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Vulture
Vulture was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 10 of Robot Wars. It was entered by Team Immersion, whose captain had previously entered the Series 8 pilot with Tanto. After reaching the Heat Semi-Final against Terrorhurtz, Vulture settled for fourth place in its heat, withdrawing shortly before its Third Place Play-off. Design Vulture ran on a two-wheel drive, and was protected by a wide HARDOX front wedge, with three curved prongs designed to hold robots in place. The armour varied from 6-8mm in thickness. Its weapon was a comparatively light spinning blade on the end of a moving arm, powered by AmpFlow motors. This was described both as an "overhead spinner" and as a "spinning bar head", and had a top speed of 6,000rpm. The arm allowed Vulture to spin its weapon on either end of the robot. Alternatively, Vulture could use its wedge to breach the ground clearances of robots, and then bring its spinner down onto the top of opponents, like the earlier designs of Dead Metal. Two supporting structures surrounded each side of the moving arm, to give the robot birdlike features and allow the robot to self-right more comfortably, using the arm which travels 180 degrees in half a second. The robot is powered by an 8s LiPo 30V. However, the team noted a potential weakness in the robot’s welding. The overall design took design cues from the team's featherweights, Amnesia and RPM. Vulture also had an optional, steeper 10mm 'anti-spinner' HARDOX 500 wedge, weighing a hefty 22kg, which could be applied to the front of the robot. Vulture was equipped with this for its debut fight featuring Apex, before the scoop was then used by Track-tion in two battles, after Team Immersion allowed the school team to borrow their scoop. Etymology The name Vulture partially references the way the robot's overhead weapon can 'prey on the weaknesses of other robots' by attacking from above in a birdlike manner, but is primarily a reference to music by the drum and bass band Pendulum, and their 2010 song The Vulture, released as part of the album which Vulture's team is named after, Immersion. This keeps in line with Team Immersion's general theme of naming their robots after Pendulum and Knife Party music. The Team Vulture was entered into Robot Wars by Team Immersion, captained by 25-year old Adam Hamilton from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the driver and lead designer of the machine. He was joined by his partner Emma Jones, and housemate Thomas Long, who was responsible for the wiring of the robot. 19-year old Jarvis Callister also joined the team as a co-designer of Vulture, and the weapons operator. Qualification After Adam Hamilton competed in Series 8's pilot with Tanto, he formed the first concept for a competitor to use in Series 9. He and teammate Matthew Pearman initially conceptualised a two-part clusterbot named Immersion, with each part featuring a vertical spinner and a two-way flipper, and designs similar to that of the team's featherweight Amnesia. However, the team decided against this design, as they considered it too similar to that of Crackers 'n' Smashhttps://www.facebook.com/pg/teamimmersionrobotics/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1941918752722935. The two, who competed in the pilot episode of Series 8 after loaning Tanto from Team Danby, then created the first CAD for Vulture, which was noticed by Jarvis Callister, who then joined the team and improved the design. Vulture was initially intended to use the two-way flipper concept popularised by Amnesia, but this proved to be infeasible. As Jarvis Callister headlined the CAD and Adam Hamilton was the most responsible for construction, Matthew Pearman left the team to attempt qualification for Series 9 with Dantomkia, and Matt Smith filled his space, having been part of Hobgoblin's team up to this stage. This version of Vulture which applied for Series 9, while still based upon Amnesia, was a conventional wedge-shaped drum spinner, not unlike Pulsar, using a brushless motor provided by Harry Hills. However, Vulture would not be selected to compete in Series 9 of Robot Wars. Fearing that the original idea of a drum spinner would be perceived as unoriginal by the producers, Hamilton and Callister conceptualised other designs for Vulture, again including a design reminiscent of the first Amnesia. Ultimately, the team settled upon the weaponry of Vulture which would go on to be used in Series 10. Thomas Long joined the team to assist with wiring, and Emma Jones also joined the team, who successfully qualified for Series 10. Robot History Series 10 Vulture competed in Heat 3, where in its first battle, it would face seasoned teams in Team Hurtz and Team Danby, with their robots Terrorhurtz and Apex. Dara Ó Briain remarked his surprise at Team Immersion's build quality in spite of their non-technical working backgrounds. Vulture had applied its anti-spinner scoop in order to defend itself against Apex. Edited out of the televised broadcast, Vulture kept its distance from its opponents, and after a slam from Terrorhurtz, Apex broke the arena wall, and the battle was halted and restarted before Vulture could even make contact with the other robots. At the beginning of the restarted battle, Vulture pressed into Apex, which had already lost power to its spinner. Later, it drove under the back of Apex, and unintentionally struck the approaching Terrorhurtz with its rear spinner, engaging with Terrorhurtz until Apex unleashed Fog of War. It drove into both robots, but sustained a direct blow from Terrorhurtz's axe before bring its own overhead weapon onto the wedge of Terrorhurtz. The next attack from Terrorhurtz directly hit the moving arm of Vulture, and another blow buried Terrorhurtz's axe directly into Vulture, locking the two robots together. Vulture lacked pushing power as it was edged backwards, and then dragged onto the flame pit, where Vulture burned until Apex became stuck on the side of it. While freeing Vulture from the flame pit, Shunt slammed into Vulture's moving arm, which was now disabled, and the robot was only mobile on one side. Vulture turned in circles, and Professor Noel Sharkey contemplated whether to initiate the countdown clock. In order to relieve pressure on the robot's drive motors, Vulture voluntarily ceased all movement, and only struck Terrorhurtz and Apex with its spinner when the opposing robots drew near. Vulture was counted out, and had finished third in the battle, which was eventually won by Terrorhurtz. In the Redemption Robot Knockouts, Vulture was drawn against fellow newcomer Bucky the Robot. The full two-hour repair period was used to make stressful fixes to Vulture, but it entered the arena in a working state. Vulture used its wedge shape to drive straight under the opponent, but missed with its overhead spinner, damaging itself in the process. Struggling for traction on the arena floor, Vulture drove onto the floor flipper and was tossed over. It self-righted, but landed straight in the mouth of Bucky the Robot, where it was gripped and pushed backwards into Dead Metal, where the two moving spinners clashed. Vulture reversed when freed, drawing near enough to the Arena Tyre to open the pit. Vulture was able to bring its spinner onto the front of Bucky the Robot and push it back into Dead Metal. Both robots drew near to the pit, and Vulture suddenly started to emit smoke. At this time, Vulture's spinner stopped working, and was left to fight using only its wedge as it drove under Bucky the Robot, and then succeeded in pushing it onto the floor flipper. In a stroke of luck for Team Immersion, Bucky the Robot was thrown onto its side, a position from which it could not self-right. Vulture held off, and spun in circles as 'cease' was called, having qualified for the Heat semi-final. In the semi-final, Vulture would once again face Terrorhurtz, which the team idolised. Ahead of its rematch, a 'pillow' was made from blocks of HDPE and other spare materials available to the team to protect the top of Vulture, including Velcro fastening, as the design had not been optimised to defend it from axes. Vulture used a good turn of speed to drive under Terrorhurtz, but received an axe blow to the wedge, and a second blow to the top while edged into the CPZ. While Vulture attempted to bring down its own weapon, a big hit from Terrorhurtz shook loose part of Vulture's protective pillow, and the next two swings of the axe further damaged the bodywork and pillow of Vulture. Terrorhurtz disabled the spinner of Vulture, which could only flee in response, showering sparks as it sustained more blows. Sustaining further blows, Vulture's wheel hub was struck by Terrorhurtz as it was held in a CPZ. At this stage, Adam Hamilton believed that Vulture had lost drive on one side while Terrorhurtz buried its axe back into the robot. The two were separated when Matilda threw Vulture over, merely allowing Terrorhurtz to inflict more punishment, although Vulture regained free movement as it continued to flee. Vulture circled around its opponent, strategising, and elected to press the Arena Tyre, which activated Fog of War to the disappointment of the team. During Fog of War, Vulture drew too near to Dead Metal, and were gripped, as Terrorhurtz pressed the Arena Tyre to activate Fog of War once again. This time, Vulture drove onto the flame pit, where their movement was impeded by the damaged floor, and Vulture burned, where it was trapped in place by Terrorhurtz, and it also became clear that Vulture's tyre was starting to shred. The battle concluded at the end of three minutes when Terrorhurtz pushed Vulture into the corner of the arena and stranded it on its arm. Vulture had managed to survive until a Judges' decision, although the unanimous decision was quite clearly in favour of Terrorhurtz. Vulture could now only qualify for the Grand Final by winning its Third Place Play-off against Track-tion, to earn a space in the 10 Robot Rumble. The battle posed a moral dilemma to Team Immersion, as they had previously lent their anti-spinner wedge to Track-tion earlier in the episode, and needed to retrieve the panel ahead of the 10 Robot Rumble, where the wedge would be necessary. Ultimately, the team did reclaim their wedge, and stored it under their pit bench. However, Vulture encountered bigger problems than the morals of their scoop, as Vulture unexpectedly suffered from an internal failure. Only minutes before Vulture was to enter the arena, Team Immersion discovered that some of the wires powering the machine had been pinched, as these wires were housed too close to the robot's weapon arm and frame. In order to repair this, Team Immersion would have needed to replace the motor that the wires were attached to, and as the motor was positioned in an area of the machine which was infeasible to access within the allotted time-frame, Team Immersion were left with no choice but to formally forfeit the fight to Track-tion. This ended Vulture's heat campaign in fourth place, and the team draped their jacket over the beaten machine. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 1 *Losses: 2 NOTE: Vulture's withdrawal against Track-tion has been excluded from the tally Series Record Thomas Long and Vulture.jpg|Vulture is repaired by Thomas Long Vulture loaded.jpg|Vulture enters the arena for its first battle Vulture and Eruption.jpg|Vulture and Eruption Vulture CAD 5.jpg|3D-printed model of an unused Vulture design Track-tion wedge.png|Vulture's anti-spinner scoop on Track-tion Vulture.gif|Vulture on the turntable Vulture S11 concept.png|Concept design for a successor to Vulture Outside Robot Wars Following on from its appearance on Robot Wars, Vulture was immediately retired. Its chassis was given away to featherweight roboteer Joel West-Ward, and used as a testing bay with an off-screen team member of Team Immersion, Matthew Pearman. Vulture's thicker anti-spinner wedge used by Track-tion was given to Alasdair Sutherland, the spinner weapon was given to Isaac Sharp, and most of the internal components from Vulture were later used in other heavyweight robots built by Adam Hamilton. The only pieces of Vulture still owned by the team are its two thinner wedges, the former being used exclusively in Vulture's photo-shoot while the latter was used in battle, and was signed by the roboteers in attendance. In March 2019, Joel West-Ward sold the chassis of Vulture to Theo Beech, who intends to restore the robot to working condition for UK live events, albeit initially without a spinning weapon. Theo Beech brought Vulture to Robonerd in August 2019 where it appeared as a static exhibit. ]] For more information on the robots entered by Team Immersion outside of Robot Wars, including Vulture's heavyweight successors Bonfire and Immersion, and robots in lighter weight classes built by Adam Hamilton, Thomas Long and Jarvis Callister, see Team Immersion. Trivia *Team Immersion brought their featherweight Amnesia to filming, and displayed it in The Pits, but it could not enter alongside Vulture as a minibot. *Vulture was the only robot to forfeit a battle in Series 10. *Vulture's anti-spinner scoop was responsible for the flying bar spinner of Apex breaking the arena wall in its battle against Track-tion. *Vulture is the final robot to be listed in the competitor profiles of Robot Wars: The Official Handbook, due to the book listing the robots in alphabetical order. This is an error, however, as Wyrm should be the last robot listed alphabetically. **Vulture is also completely missing from the Index page, the only robot to be omitted. References External Links *Team Immersion - Combat Robots Facebook Page *[http://www.robotwars.tv/competitors/season-10/week-3/vulture/ Vulture on the Robot Wars website] *Team Immersion on The Builders Database Category:UK Series competitors Category:Robots from Tyne and Wear Category:Robots which debuted in Series 10 Category:Robots which only fought in Series 10 Category:Robots with Lawnmower Blades Category:Robots with moving arms Category:Animal Based Robots Category:Robots with names from music Category:Robots with Bar Spinners Category:Robots that forfeited a place Category:Robots with more Losses than Wins